Clothes hamper



June 14, 1938. H, GLEITSMAN CLOTHES HAMPER Filed Dec. 8, 1936 INVENTOR.

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TTORNEYS.

Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHES HAMPER Harold Gleitsman, Cedarhurst, N. Y.

Application December 8, 1936, Serial No. 114,736

2 Claims.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clothes hamper and more specifically a clothes hamper the side walls of which are made of woven or mesh fiber or the like wherein the front panel of the hamper may comprise a body structure of different appearance set off from the body material used throughout the remainder of the hamper by a pair of ornamental structural supporting elements.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a clothes hamper of the character described wherein a plurality, as for example the two front upright elements which support the top frame and cover of the hamper, function also as ornamental covering members for joints or seams in-the outer body covering of the hamper.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a hamper of the character described wherein all joints or seams in the material forming the side walls of the hamper are covered by ornamental structural elements.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 represents a view in perspective of a clothes hamper embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 represents a horizontal sectional view along the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Heretofore in the manufacture of clothes hampers, and more specifically in the manufacture of clothes hampers employing as a side wall closure material a woven or mesh material, as for example a woven or mesh fibrous material, the

common method of manufacture was to form a frame comprising the bottom of the hamper, an open top, and four upright supporting elements or dowels. The wall closure material, in the form of a sheet of woven fiber, for example, was then wrapped around the frame and tacked at its cut edges to one of the rear supporting elements or dowels. A strip of so-called braid or other ornamental material was then employed as an edging about the top and the, bottom of the hamper to cover the edge of the woven or mesh wall material.

The braid forming the upper ornamental edge of the hamper was usually twisted and brought down over the seam formed by the two out edges of the wall enclosing mesh material, and fastened to that rear supporting element or dowel to which the wall material was itself afiixed.

Such a structure possesses certain disadvan tages. For economical manufacture with such a structure only a single type of wall closure mate-- rial is employed. The cost of bringing down the braid from the upper edge of the hamper to cover the seam between the two edges of the wall material is considerable, and this is the most difficult process in the assembly of the hamper. Furthermore, the single strip of ornamental braid extending from the top to the bottom of the hamper is at best unsightly and hence is invariably placed at the rear of the hamper. This results in a rough or uneven surface. It is desirable that the rear of the hamper be smooth and that any ornamentation be applied to the front surface, where it may be appreciated. It is furthermore desirable in many instances that a section of relatively expensive or high grade fibrous body material be employed in the front ofthe hamper in conjunction with a relatively cheap wall material for the side and rear walls.

This invention contemplates a hamper construction wherein the difliculties of the standard type of structure are'eliminated, and wherein a more sightly and artistic hamper is produced without added cost, and in fact at considerably less labor.

In Fig. 1 there is shown in perspective a hamper embodying the present invention. This may comprise a top frame ll provided with handles l2 and a cover l3 which may be either detachable as shown, or hinged in the usual manner. The body of the hamper may comprise a front panel M and side and rear panels l5. The side and rear panels as shown may comprise a single piece of material, as for example a single piece of woven or mesh fibrous material, such as is usually employed in the manufacture of hampers. This material may be formed in any design to impart a sightly appearance to the finished hamper. The front panel l4 may, if desired, be of a different design and may comprise a section of a different type of material, as for example a more costly weave.

The hamper of the present invention is provided with a plurality of the usual vertical supporting elements or dowels H5 at the rear thereof, and these may be mounted in the usual manner in the base i! and top frame ll. They act to support the upper frame of the hamper and V to resist distortion in the shape of the wall-forming element 85. The vertical supports at the front of the hamper are, however, considerably modified. They'may comprise strips 20 grooved as at 2| with outer ornamented sections 22 extending laterally so as to act as covers for the edges of the elements I 4 and I5 which may be inserted in the grooves 2|. These elements may be fastened, as for example by the staples or nails 23, to the back portion 24 of the elements 20. This back portion 24 may act as support for the ends of the elements l4 and I5, and may also act as the principal structural element insupporting the upper frame H and in giving rigidity to the front portion of the hamper. The elements 20 thus provide a pair of ornamental panels extending vertically on the front of the hamper, and they provide also supports for the ends of the wall closure elements It and I5 and structural supports for the hamper itself, i. e., they comprise a portion of the frame of the hamper. The usual braid 25 may be around the upper and lower edges of the wall closure elements I! and-I5 and may be fastened, as for example, by tacking, to the frame II and the bottom l'l. With the structure of the present invention it is not necessary, however, to cover the cut edges of the wall closure elements with a strip of braid, as these edges are covered and hidden from view by the scrolled or otherwise ornamented outer faces 22 of the elements 24.

It will be understood that the elements 24 may be positioned wherever desired, but a preferred positioning is one wherein the elements are so spaced as to render proper structural support for the upper frame of the hamper and to impart suitable rigidity to the body itself.

The structure of the present invention may be employed in the production of artistic hampers at little or no increase in cost over former constructions. The saving in the cost of the braid employed usually to cover the seam between the cut ends of the wall closure element and the saving in the elimination of the two uprights or dowels from the front portion of the hamper, while offset in part by the provision of a pair of ornamented molding strips as supporting elements in the front portion of the hamper, may under certain circumstances justify the use of a more expensive material in the center panel M of the front wall of the hamper without added cost in the manufacture of the finished article. Furthermore, at small added expense very pleasing designs and a very pleasing appearance may be obtained by employing artistically molded elements, as at 20, and by employing a high grade material for the front panel [4. Where the same materials are employed throughout the hamper of the present invention as are employed in the ordinary hamper at the present time, the effect secured is more pleasing if the present invention is employed, and the hamper may be produced at less cost because the difficult labor operation of covering the seams of the cut edges of the wall closure element with braid is omitted.

There is furthermore another advantage with the construction of the present invention. Heretofore, it has been necessary to place the vertical dowels or molding at the rear of the hamper close- 1y adjacent the edge, so that the twisted braid used as a covering for the cut edges of the wall closure element might be properly aflixed thereto. With such a structure it was necessary to employ a relatively heavy dowel, as for example a dowel seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, and more specifically a so-called tenoned dowel,

1. e., a dowel with a protruding end of much smaller diameterwhich was adapted to be inserted in a hole drilled in the bottom closely adjacent the edge. At times the dowel which was not tenoned was inserted in a hole drilled at the edge of the bottom. This structure tended to develop splitting of the bottom piece, and also resulted in uneven edges. With the present invention a lighter weight dowel, as for example a one-half inch dowel, the ends of which are not tenoned, can be employed and can be inserted in a hole drilled in the bottom section away from the edge thereof, as it is no longer necessary that the dowel or upright supporting member be closely adjacent the bottom edge. As a result there is an increased saving in the cost of the dowels employed and a saving in breakage of the bottom element, together with a more sightly appearance of the finished hamper.

Since certain changes may be made in the above product and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A clothes hamper comprising, in combination, a bottom element, a plurality of vertical supporting elements afl'lxed thereto, a top element supported by said vertical elements, a plurality of wall closure elements, one of said wall closure elements forming the rear wall and the side walls of said hamper, the other of said wall closure elements forming a portion at least of the front wall of said hamper, a plurality at least of said vertical supporting elements comprising grooved elements, said plurality being positioned in the front wall of said hamper and spaced from the ends of said wall whereby said wall is divided into a plurality of vertical panel portions, each of said wall closure elements being seated in one of said grooves and aflixed to one of said grooved elements, said grooved elements comprising exterior portions overlying and hiding from view the edges of said wall closure elements seated in said grooves.

2. In a hamper of the character described, in combination with bottom and top elements, a plurality of vertical, supporting, frame elements, at least two of said frame elements comprising grooved members, wall closure elements seated in the grooves of said grooved members and afflxed thereto, one of said wall closure elements forming a panel for the front of said hamper, the other of said wall closure elements forming the rear and side walls and portions of the front wall of said hamper, portions of said grooved members extending outwardly beyond said wall closure elements and acting to frame said first mentioned wall closure element, the ungrooved vertical frame elements being positioned completely within said wall closure elements. 

